lotr tcg - 12 - black rider rulebook

7/28/2019 LotR TCG - 12 - Black Rider Rulebook

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STARTER R ULES TURN SEQUENCEReset the twilight pool

Perform any “at the start of each of your turns” actions

1. Fellowship PhasePerform fellowship actions

Move to the next site

2. Shadow Phase(s) – one for each Shadow player

Perform shadow actions

3. Maneuver PhasePerform maneuver actions

4. Archery PhasePerform archery actions

5. Assignment PhaseAssign defenders

6. Skirmish Phase(s) – one for each skirmish

Perform skirmish actions

Resolve that skirmish

7. Regroup PhasePerform regroup actions

Reconcile Shadow players’ hands

Either the Free Peoples player moves to the next site

(return to Shadow phase) — or the Free Peoples player

reconciles and Shadow players discard all minions in play

BLACK RIDER ™

S T A R T E R R U L E B O O K



T HE L ORD OF THE R INGS ™TRADING C ARD G AME

BLACK R IDER ™

STARTER R ULEBOOK

If you have never played a trading card game...The best way to learn is from a friend who already knowshow to play. If your friends aren’t players yet, we’vedesigned this rulebook to get you started... then you canshow them how to play!This Starter Rulebook and its 60-card fixed pack aredesigned for new players just like you. It has examples of basic rules to help players new to TCGs learn how to play.

If you have played another trading card game...Play a game or two with just the Starter Rulebook andthe cards in your 60-card fixed pack, as if you were new toTCGs. Then download the Comprehensive Rulebook andget some booster packs to find all the depth and strategy of the full game.

If you have played this game before...This Starter Rulebook describes a simplified game for new

players. Don’t panic if you can’t find a rule or two you’refamiliar with; you’ll find them in the ComprehensiveRulebook . You should check out new rules dealing withsites, the adventure path, and regions on pages 8, 23, and 24;resistance and burdens on page 12; and the new keywordslurker, muster, and toil on page 39.

B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 1

STARTER R ULEBOOK T ABLE OF CONTENTSPreface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Starter Rulebook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Comprehensive Rulebook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Important Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Kinds of Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Vitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Twilight Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Phase Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Special Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14When, Each Time, and While . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Setting Up the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Playing the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Fellowship Phase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Table Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20-21Shadow Phase(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Maneuver Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Action Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Archery Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Assignment Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Skirmish Phase(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Fierce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Regroup Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Winning the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Other Important Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Contacting Decipher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 © MMV New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. “The Lord of the Rings” and names of the characters, items, events andplaces therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.Decipher Inc. Authorized User. TM, ®, & © 2005 Decipher Inc., P.O. Box 56, Norfolk, Virginia U.S.A. 23501. All Rights Reserved.Printed in the U.S.A.



B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 3 2 T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

STARTER R ULEBOOK This Starter Rulebook is in every Black Rider starter deck.The 60 cards in the fixed portion of your starter deck aredesigned to work with this rulebook, but the three rarecards in your starter deck might have game text that is notexplained in here.

If this is your first experience with this trading card game,you should set those rare cards aside. Rare cards have an “R”in their collector’s info in the lower right corner.The Starter Rulebook describes how to play a game betweentwo or more players who each have a Black Rider starterdeck. (Other The Lord of the Rings TCG starter decksmight have game text that is not explained in this rulebook.)

COMPREHENSIVE R ULEBOOK

The ComprehensiveRulebook explains otherconcepts and rules forcards in this and otherexpansions sets of The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game.

You can download a PDF version of theComprehensive Rulebook for free from our websiteat decipher.com.

INTRODUCTIONMost card games have just one deck of cards that never changes,but a trading card game (or TCG) works differently. In a TCG,you personalize your deck using cards from your collection.

The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game provides two ormore players with the same challenges that Frodo, bearer of

the One Ring, faced on his fateful journey from Hobbitonto Mount Doom to destroy The One Ring.Each player’s cards include his own fellowship — a groupof companions, each represented by a different card. Othercards represent possessions, artifacts, events, and conditionsthat support and defend the fellowship.On each player’s turn, a marker representing that player’sfellowship advances along the adventure path — a sequence

of site cards, each representing an episode in the adventure. All players share the same adventure path, even though it ismade up of cards from all the players in the game.Each time a fellowship moves, minions played by oneor more opponents may attack it; these minions may besupported by possessions, artifacts, events, and conditions of their own. The attacks will succeed or fail depending on therelative strengths of the companions and minions.

The minions of evil become more numerous as the fellowshipmoves farther into Middle-earth, resulting in greater risks to thefellowship and the Ring-bearer. In great need, the Ring-bearercan be saved by putting on the Ring — but this brings greatperil of succumbing to the burden of the Ring, and losing thegame. If your fellowship survives its adventures to reach thefinal site first, you are the winner!




IMPORTANT CONCEPTS

K INDS OF C ARDSThe Lord of the Rings TCG has three basic kinds of cards:site, Free Peoples, and Shadow. There is also The One Ring,

which is different from all other cards.

Site cardsEach player has an adventure deck thatconsists of only nine site cards. These cards areused to chart the progress of the game.The adventure deck is separate from the cards

drawn and played during the game, which are placed in thedraw deck.Site cards have a dark compass in the upper left corner.

Note that this symbol is not the same as the compass symbolused in previous sets. This differentiates these sites from thesites in those previous sets.

Free Peoples cardsFree Peoples cards represent the forces of good. Each player has his own fellowship,made up of a Ring-bearer and othercompanions. When you take your turn, you

play and use your Free Peoples cards.Free Peoples cards have a light colored circular field inthe upper left corner.

Shadow cardsShadow cards represent the forces of evil andcorruption. When another player takes histurn, you play and use your Shadow cards tohinder that player.

Shadow cards have a dark colored diamond-shaped field in the upper left corner.

The One Ring This card represents the uniquely powerful item that is thefocus of the story of The Lord of the Rings . In the middle of the card, The One Ring has its subtitle. It has no twilightcost, and its card type is “The One Ring.”The One Ring is not a Free Peoples card and it is not a Shadow card.



POSSESSION, E VENT, CONDITION, A RTIFACT

A possession is a weapon, suit of armor, or other kind of object used by a character.

An event is a card played from your hand representing an

important occurrence, which you discard after you play it. A condition is a card representing a significant change inthe world, which stays in play until something discards it.Some conditions are played on characters or sites.

An artifact is a card representing a special, powerful object(you may find an artifact in your starter deck rare cards).


CHARACTER (COMPANION, MINION)

All characters use the same basic card layout. A companion is a Free Peoples character in your fellowship.(Companions have resistance where the site number is

shown above.) A minion is a Shadow character that attacks other players’fellowships.

TWILIGHT COST

CARD TYPE

STRENGTH

VITALITY

RESISTANCE(FREE PEOPLES)

SITE NUMBER (SHADOW )

CULTURE

RACE

GAME TEXT

LORE

COLLECTOR ’SINFO

CARD TITLE

TWILIGHT COST CULTURE

CLASS

GAME TEXT

COLLECTOR ’SINFO

CARD TITLE

CARD TYPE

STRENGTH BONUS


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SITE

You bring a set of nine sites in your adventure deck. Eachsite must be different. Your adventure deck may includeno more than three sites that have the same given Shadow number.

CULTUREMost cards are part of a specific culture. A card’s color, itsbackground texture, and an icon in its upper right cornerindicate its culture.You’ll find that cards from the same culture work well together.Sorting your cards by culture can make building your own deck easier. However, your deck may contain cards from several different cultures if you like.Site cards and The One Ring are not part of any culture.

Culture names and symbolsFree Peoples cards Shadow cards ∂ Dwarven √ Sauronπ Elven † Men∑ Gandalf ¥ Orc◊ Gollum ¢ Uruk-haiµ Gondor ≈ Wraith≥ Rohan Ω Isengard

∫ Shire ∆ Moria You don’t have to memorize these names, since cultures are always referred to with icons in game text.

V ITALITY All characters in the game have vitality. This numberrepresents a character’s life force, stamina, sturdiness, and

will to live. Wounds When a character is wounded by an enemy attack, hisvitality is depleted. Place a wound token on the character toillustrate this. Glass beads (preferably blood red) make goodtokens for this purpose. Wounds are always placed on a character one at a time. When you “wound a character,” youplace only one wound.

If a card tells you to “Wound 2 companions,” you must choose two different companions to wound one time each (you cannot wound one companion twice).Each wound a character has reduces its vitality by 1. Whena character’s vitality is reduced to zero, that character isimmediately killed. (Reducing a character’s strength to zerodoes not kill that character.)

C O L L E C T O R ’ S I N F O

GAME TEXT

ARROW

CARD TITLE SHADOW NUMBER



A unique card has a dot (•) in its card title. When you discard a companion to use its game text or as a result of some other effect, place that card in your discardpile (not your dead pile).ExertSometimes you may exert a character by placing a woundon that card to show that the character takes an action thatdepletes his vitality.Exerting a character is different from wounding a character,even though both require placement of a wound token.Cards that prevent wounds cannot prevent a wound tokenplaced by exerting.Conceptually, wearing armor protects you from a sword strike (taking a wound token), but it won’t help you lift a heavy weight (placing an exertion token).

Once a wound token is placed, whether from exerting or wounding, it can be healed by any effect that heals a wound.No player may exert a character who is exhausted (whohas only 1 vitality remaining). Such a character cannot bechosen as a character who must exert. To exhaust a charactermeans to exert that character as many times as you can.If a card tells you to exhaust a character with a vitality of 4 who has 1 wound, then you must exert that character 2 times

by placing 2 wound tokens. A character with a vitality of 2 is exhausted with a single wound. A character with a vitality of 1is always exhausted.

B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 11T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

Healing A wounded character is a character who has at least one wound token.When a wound is removed from a character,this represents resting or healing. If game text says youshould heal a character, the default meaning for that phraseis to remove one wound.If a card tells you to “Heal 2 companions,” you must choose twodifferent companions to heal one time each (you cannot heal one companion twice).Generally, your fellowship only heals (removes wounds) ata sanctuary you reach on the adventure path. At the startof your turn when your fellowship is at a sanctuary (that is,a site 3 or site 6), you may heal up to 5 wounds from yourcompanions.When the rules say “you may heal up to 5 wounds from your

companions,” you may choose to heal 5 different companions once, or one companion twice and another three times, or any other combination. You don’t have to heal any wounds at all since it says “up to 5,” which means you may choose any number

from zero to 5.

Killed When a character’s vitality is reduced to zero, that characteris immediately killed. Place killed companions in your

dead pile. The dead pile is separate from and next to yourdiscard. Place all killed minions in your discard pile.

When you have a unique companion in your dead pile, youcannot play another copy of that card, or any other card

with the same title. (You may play another copy of a non-unique card that is in your dead pile.)


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Twilight CostIn the upper left corner of each Free Peoples and Shadow card is that card’s twilight cost. This is the number of twilight tokens that must be added to or removed from thetwilight pool to play that card.

When you play a Free Peoples card, you must add a numberof twilight tokens (from the reserve) to the twilight poolequal to that card’s twilight cost.

When your opponent plays a Shadow card, he must remove a number of twilight tokens from the twilight pool equal tothat card’s twilight cost. A Shadow card cannot be played if its twilight cost cannot be met by the tokens available in thetwilight pool.In game text, you will find phrases like “Add ⁄” whichmeans, “Add 1 twilight token to the twilight pool.”

You must meet any requirements to play a card (or performan action) before paying its costs.If a Free Peoples event requires you to spot twilight tokens, they must be there before you add tokens to pay for that card’s cost.

PHASE A CTIONSBefore you learn more about the phases of a turn, you needto know how certain game actions link to those phases.

During each phase of a turn, one or more players areallowed to perform phase actions that use a word matching the name of that phase. These words are printed in boldfaceand followed by a colon.Each phase action lasts for the duration of the phase namedin the boldface word (unless otherwise specified).

B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 13

R ESISTANCECompanion cards have resistance. Thisnumber represents a companion’s ability towithstand the lure of The One Ring. Frodohas a ring around his resistance icon, meaning he begins the game as your Ring-bearer.

Burdens When your Ring-bearer loses will against the power of TheOne Ring, you place a burden token on him. Glass beads(preferably black) make good burden tokens, but anything you won’t confuse with a wound will do.There are many cards that add or remove burdens. Burdensare only placed on your Ring-bearer. Each burden reducesthe resistance of every companion in your fellowship by 1.

If your Ring-bearer’s resistance is reduced to zero, he iscorrupted , and you lose the game. Only your Ring-bearercan be corrupted. If the resistance of any of your othercompanions is reduced to zero, there is no immediatepenalty, though your opponent may play Shadow cards totake advantage of this.

T WILIGHT POOLThe twilight pool is an area on the table where twilight

tokens are placed. The tokens in the twilight pool representhow dangerous the world is for the fellowship. Glass beads(preferably black) make good twilight tokens, but any convenient tokens will do. Keep a large reserve of twilighttokens handy.



times as you like (even repeatedly during the same phase),as long as you meet the requirements for it and pay its costs.

You cannot combine special abilities.

W HEN, E ACH TIME, AND W HILE A few special words or phrases you’ll see in game text governthe timing of an action, just like the names of phases that

are in phase actions. These include when, each time , andwhile ; each is described below with an example.• When is used if an effect can happen only once. When you play this possession, you may draw a card. This game textactivates only once, when this card is played.

• Each time is used if an effect can happen more thanonce. Each time you play a possession or artifact on your companion, draw a card. If you play one possession, thisgame text activates once; if you play a second possession, itactivates again, and so on.

• While is used if an effect is continuous. For example,While Merry bears a weapon, he is strength +2. When youplay a weapon on Merry, this game text is activated; if that

weapon is discarded, then this game text “turns off.”Each of these effects has a trigger describing what makes it happen.The trigger is always described

first, and followed by a comma.

B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 15 T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

The effects of a phase action with the keyword Skirmish: last only for the skirmish phase in which it is played.Each phase action must be completely performed beforeanother phase action can be performed. Phase actionscannot be combined.If one card says, “ Fellowship: Play an Elf from your draw deck” and another card says, “ Fellowship: Play an Elf to draw

a card,” you cannot play one Elf from your draw deck to draw a card. You must choose one phase action or the other.

An action labeled with the word “Response:” is not a phaseaction. Responses are explained later in this rulebook.

E VENTSEvery event card has a phase action that defines when youmay play that card from your hand. The game text on that

event may be performed only once for each copy of thatevent played. You cannot play an event during a phase thatdoes not match its phase action.Discard an event after you play it, and before the next actionis taken. Even after being discarded, an event often has anongoing or delayed effect until the end of the phase, or untila specified phase or condition is met.

SPECIAL A BILITIES

Besides events, other types of cards may have a phase actionas a part of their game text called a special ability , whichmay be used only while the card is in play. (The boldfaced

word defines when you may do so.)Each special ability is optional; you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. You may use each special ability as many



Starting FellowshipTake one copy of each of the cards indicated below (depending on which starter product you have). Place themface up on the table, with Frodo bearing The One Ring (place it under Frodo with its title showing). All Decks: Frodo, The One Ring Saruman: Merry, Farmer Maggot, Tolman Cotton Mouth of Sauron: Eomer, Merry

Don’t place any tokens into the twilight pool for the cardsin your starting fellowship.

Draw Deck The rest of your cards form your draw deck. Shuffle yourdraw deck, give the opponent on your right the opportunity

to cut it, and draw eight cards to form your starting hand.Note: If at any time you have no cards in your draw deck,you may reshuffle your discard pile to make a new draw deck. You may only do this once per game. When you play using the rules from the Comprehensive Rulebook, you won’t be able to reshuffle your draw deck.

Game Setup Summary • Each player places his adventure deck on the table.

• Determine randomly who goes first.• First player plays a site from his adventure deck.• Each player puts his player marker on that site.• Each player places his starting fellowship on the table.• Each player shuffles his draw deck and draws 8 cards.


SETTING UP THE G AMEPlayers need a supply of wound tokens (preferably red) andtwilight tokens (preferably black). Each player will also needa player marker (a differently-colored token) that shows

where his fellowship is on the adventure path.

Adventure Deck

Take all 9 of your site cards and place them face down in a pile on the table. This is your adventure deck.No other player may look through your adventure deck during the game.

You don’t have to keep your adventure deck in any order. Just look through it to get a card when you need to.

Who goes first?

Determine randomly who goesfirst. The first player choosesany site from his adventure deck and places it on the table tobegin the adventure path. Thisbecomes site 1. Each playerplaces his player marker ontothat site card.Place the adventure path off to the side, opposite from thetwilight pool (see table layouton pages 20-21). That leavesroom in the middle of the tablefor minions.



Perform fellowship actionsIf you are the Free Peoples player, you may performfellowship actions during this phase, in any order.Two fellowship actions are always available:• Play a Free Peoples companion, possession, artifact, or

condition from your hand to the table.• “Discard to heal.” Spot a unique companion or unique ally with at least one wound and discard a card from your hand with the same card title (it may have a different subtitle) toheal that character.

A unique card has a dot (•) in its card title.

You may find other fellowship actions on events in yourhand, or as special abilities on cards you already have in play.

Paying costs

To play a Free Peoples card, add a number of twilighttokens to the twilight pool equal to the card’s twilight cost.

Playing companionsPlay companion cards in a row, near the other members of your fellowship already in play.

You cannot play a card from your hand to replace anothercard in play, even if those cards have the same card title orrepresent the same personality.

Playing possessionsPlay Free Peoples possessions under a character, with theleft edge of the card visible for its card title and attributebonuses (modifiers for the character’s strength and/orvitality, written with a plus sign like “+2”). Some possessionsplay to your support area (a row of cards behind yourfellowship, see table layout on pages 20-21).B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 19 T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

PLAYING THE G AMEEach player, going clockwise aroundthe table, takes a turn according tothe following turn sequence.

1. Fellowship Phase2. Shadow Phase

3. Maneuver Phase4. Archery Phase5. Assignment Phase6. Skirmish Phase(s)7. Regroup Phase

When one player finishes his turn, the next player inclockwise rotation (to his left) takes a turn and so on.

Although the turn order rotates to the left (clockwise), notethat many other procedures in the game actually rotate tothe right (counter-clockwise).

START OF TURN When your turn begins, reset the twilight pool. (Removeall tokens from the twilight pool. The pool begins the gameempty, so this is not necessary on the first turn of the game.)Then you complete any start of turn actions. Each of these

actions may be performed only once per turn.

1. FELLOWSHIP PHASEDuring your fellowship phase, you may perform fellowshipactions, including playing most Free Peoples cards. Finally,move your fellowship forward along the adventure path.



YOUR FELLOWSHIP

SUPPORT

AREA

ADVENTURE

DECK

TWILIGHT

POOL

OPPONENT’S MINIONS

DISCARD

PILE

DEAD

PILE

DRAW

DECK ADVENTURE

PATH



ClassEach character may bear one possession or artifact of eachclass at one time. For example, a character may bear only one hand weapon, only one ranged weapon, only onearmor, only one cloak, and only one staff.Some possessions do not have a class. There is no limit to thenumber of possessions without a class that a character may bear.

Playing conditionsPlay Free Peoples conditions either under a character (like a possession, if the card says, “Bearer must be...”) or to yoursupport area , as indicated in by condition card.

Moving your fellowshipDuring each of your fellowship phases, when you arefinished performing fellowship actions, your fellowship must

move forward to the next site on the adventure path. All players use the same adventure path for their playermarkers. The cards that make up that path are taken fromthe adventure decks of the players.Place your player marker on the next site on the adventurepath. If there is no site there yet (as is the case for the firstplayer in the first turn), then a new site must be played fromone of the Shadow players’ adventure decks, as describedbelow under “playing sites.”

When you move your player marker to the next site, firstperform any actions triggered by leaving the old site. Thenperform actions that say, “When the fellowship moves...”Then, perform actions that occur when moving to the new site. Finally, add tokens to the twilight pool, as describedbelow under “adding twilight tokens for movement.”

Playing sitesIf your fellowship moves to a site that has not been playedyet, one of the Shadow players must place a new site on theadventure path. To determine which player, look at the siteyou are moving from. Each site has an arrow at the bottomcenter of the card. This indicates who is to play the new site,

with meaning the Shadow player to your right

and meaning the Shadow player to your left.(In a two-player game, there is only one Shadow player at a time, so that player always plays the new site.)That player looks through his adventure deck and choosesany site to play as the next site. It takes on the nextconsecutive number on the site path as its site number. Italso takes on a region number: sites 1-3 are in region 1,sites 4-6 are in region 2, and sites 7-9 are in region 3.

The first time the first player moves during the game, a Shadow player looks through his adventure deck and chooses the next site to place on the adventure path. It becomes site 2. The next time a site is added after that, it will be site 3. Both of those sites are in region 1.

You may play a copy of a site on the adventure path even if an opponent’s copy is already there. The copies are treatedas different sites, with each given a different site number.

Adding twilight tokens for movementEach time your fellowship moves to a new site, you mustadd twilight tokens to the twilight pool for each of thefollowing:• Add the number of twilight tokens indicated by the

Shadow number of the site you’re moving to.




Perform Shadow actionsThere is one Shadow action that is always available:• Play a Shadow minion, possession, artifact, or condition

from your hand to the table.Each Shadow player may perform any Shadow actionsduring his Shadow phase. When he has completed all of the Shadow actions he wishes to perform, the next Shadow

player to his right (if any) then performs a Shadow phase.Playing Shadow cards

A minion is played to the center of the table, across from theactive fellowship. Artifacts, possessions, and conditions statein their game text where they play. The Shadow player mustremove twilight tokens from the twilight pool as required

when playing Shadow cards. A Shadow player cannot play a Shadow condition,

possession, or artifact on another Shadow player’s minion,or to another player’s support area. However, Shadow cardsmay give bonuses or other game effects to other players’Shadow cards, and Shadow players may play events for otherplayers’ Shadow cards as appropriate.

A Shadow player’s minion may receive a strength bonus fromanother Shadow player’s condition.Each minion is normally played to a certain range of sites

beginning with the minion’s site number. Thus, if theminion is played to (or currently at) a site that has a lowersite number, that minion is roaming . The player must pay a roaming penalty by removing an additional two twilighttokens when playing that minion.

A minion with a site number of 4 must remove 2 more twilight tokens to play at site 3. If that same minion plays to site 4, there B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 25 T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

• Add 3 twilight tokens if you are in region 2, or 6 twilighttokens if you are in region 3. (You may find it easier toremember this: add 3 if you’ve passed the sanctuary at site3, or add 6 if you’ve passed the sanctuary at site 6).

• Add 1 twilight token for each companion in your fellowship.

You move a fellowship of four companions to a site 5 that has a Shadow number of 2. You add 2 twilight tokens for

the Shadow number, 3 tokens for the region (region 2), and 4 tokens for your companions, for a total of 9 twilight tokens added to the twilight pool.

Movement Summary • A Shadow player places the next site card, if needed.• Move your player marker to the next site.• Perform “When you move from...” actions.

• Perform “When the fellowship moves...” actions.• Perform “When you move to...” actions.• Add twilight tokens equal to the new site’s Shadow

number.• Add 3 twilight tokens if the new site is in region 2; or 6 if

it is in region 3.• Add 1 twilight token for each companion.

2. SHADOW PHASE(S)Each other player in the game, starting with the playerimmediately to your right, has one Shadow phase.During each player’s Shadow phase, that player may perform Shadow actions, including playing most Shadow cards. Each Shadow player may perform Shadow actions inany order desired during his or her Shadow phase.



4. A RCHERY PHASEPlayers may perform archery actions (special abilities oncards in play with “ Archery:” and events with that keyword)using the action procedure.

When all players consecutively pass, proceed to archery fire.

Archery fire

All Shadow players count the number of all their minions with the keyword archer to determine the “minion archery total.” No matter how many Shadow players there are, thereis only one minion archery total.

As the Free Peoples player, you also count the number of your Free Peoples archer companions to determine the“fellowship archery total.”There is always a “default” archery total of zero for each

side. A card may add to your archery total even though youhave no archers in play at that time.The Free Peoples player assigns wounds to his or hercompanions, one at a time, equal to the minion archery total. The Shadow player then assigns wounds to his or herminions, one at a time, equal to the fellowship archery total.

When all archery wounds have been placed, proceed to theassignment phase.

5. A SSIGNMENT PHASEDuring your assignment phase, you may assign companionsto defend against attacking minions. When the assignmentphase is complete, each companion being attacked will leadto a separate skirmish phase.


is no roaming penalty. If he survives the fellowship’s first move to 3, he would no longer be roaming when the fellowship moves to site 4.

When the first Shadow player completes his Shadow phase,the next Shadow player does so. All Shadow players pay forcards by using the same twilight pool. The second Shadow player uses twilight tokens left over from the first Shadow

player, and so on. When all Shadow players have each completed a Shadow phase, it is time for the maneuver phase. (If there are nominions in play at the end of the final Shadow phase, thenskip directly to the regroup phase.)

3. M ANEUVER PHASE

Perform maneuver actionsPlayers may perform maneuver actions (special abilitieson cards in play with “Maneuver:” and events with thatkeyword) using the action procedure.

When all players consecutively pass, proceed to the archery phase.

ACTION PROCEDURE As the Free Peoples player, you get the first opportunity to perform an action, and then the player on your rightgets an opportunity, and so on counter-clockwise aroundthe table.

If a player does not wish to perform an action, he may simply pass. Passing does not prevent a player fromperforming an action later in the same phase.

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right may assign any of his unassigned minions, and so on,counter-clockwise around the table.

Frodo and Aragorn face four Uruk-hai. The Free Peoples player uses Aragorn’s defender +1 and assigns him to defend against two minions. He assigns Frodo to another. This leaves one unassigned Uruk-hai, so the Shadow player assigns the last minion to Frodo, trying to kill the Ring-bearer.

Assignment Phase Summary • Free Peoples player may assign defending companions to

minions.• Shadow players may assign leftover unassigned minions to

any defending companions.

6. SKIRMISH PHASE(S) When the assignment phase is complete, each defending companion will fight in a separate skirmish phase. In an orderdecided by the Free Peoples player, skirmishes are resolvedone at a time by conducting a skirmish phase for each.During each skirmish phase, players may perform skirmishactions, and then that skirmish must be resolved. Allskirmish actions must be complete before proceeding toresolve the skirmish.Once a skirmish phase has finished, the Free Peoples playermust select another defending companion, and perform

another skirmish phase.Perform skirmish actionsPlayers may perform skirmish actions (special abilitieson cards in play with “Skirmish:” and events with thatkeyword) using the action procedure described in themaneuver phase.


Assign defenders You may now assign companions to defend againstattacking minions in any order (without needing eventsor special abilities). A player cannot assign more than onecompanion to the same minion.Frodo and Aragorn face a single Uruk-hai. The Free Peoples

player assigns Aragorn to the Uruk-hai, protecting Frodo from

harm. He cannot assign both companions to the Uruk-hai. When the Free Peoples player assigns one of his charactersto skirmish a minion with the keyword ambush ˛, theShadow player who owns that minion may add ˛.If your Man with ambush ¤ is assigned by the Free Peoples

player, you may add two tokens to the twilight pool. All assignments of characters are on a one-to-one basis, withthe following two exceptions:

• If your assigned companion has the keyword defender +1,you may assign that character at this time to one additionalunassigned minion. Defender +2 allows that companion todefend against two additional unassigned minions, and soon. A character with defender +2 (or greater) satisfies any requirement for defender +1.

Frodo and Aragorn face two Uruk-hai. The Free Peoples player could assign Aragorn to one and Frodo to the other. However,

Aragorn has defender +1, so he may be assigned to defend against both minions, leaving Frodo again unharmed.• When you have informed the Shadow players that you are

done making assignments, they may assign any unassignedminions to any companions (even if those companionsare already assigned). The first Shadow player on your

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A skirmish phase ends after all actions triggered by winning or losing that skirmish have resolved.

A surviving minion or companion may skirmish again thisturn if the fellowship makes another move (or if the minionhas the keyword fierce).

Skirmish Phase Summary • Free Peoples player chooses a skirmish.• Players perform skirmish actions.• Resolve that skirmish and assign wounds.• If any skirmishes are unresolved, repeat this procedure.

FIERCE After all the normal skirmishes are resolved, surviving minions with the keyword fierce must be defended againsta second time.

Players perform another assignment phase and thencomplete a separate skirmish phase for each fierce skirmish.

Assignment Phase (Fierce)The Free Peoples player assigns defenders using the sameprocedure as before, and then Shadow players assign any fierce minions that remain unassigned.

Skirmish Phase(s) (Fierce) When the assignment phase for fierce minions is complete,each defending companion will fight in a separate skirmishphase. The procedure for each of these skirmish phases is thesame as for a normal skirmish phase.

Aragorn is assigned to defend against a fierce Uruk-hai. In the normal skirmish phase, Aragorn wins and the Uruk-hai takes one wound. During the following fierce skirmish phase, the Free


Each skirmish action lasts only for a single skirmish. When allplayers consecutively pass, proceed to resolve that skirmish.

Resolve that skirmishIf the total strength of one side is more than the strengthof the other side, the side with the most strength wins thatskirmish. (If there is a tie, the Shadow side wins.) Place one

wound on each character on the losing side.

If Aragorn, with strength of 8, faces two Orcs, each withstrength of 3 (total strength of 6), then Aragorn wins that skirmish and each losing Orc takes one wound.

When the winning side has one or more characters with thekeyword damage +1, then each losing character takes oneadditional wound for each damage +1. (Damage +2 addstwo wounds, and so on.) This is called a damage bonus,

which may be added to or removed by various effects.

To continue the above example, if Aragorn has damage +1,then each Orc takes two wounds.But if both Orcs have damage +1 and strength of 4 (thus winning the skirmish with combined strength of 8), then

Aragorn takes three wounds instead.If the total strength of one side is at least double thetotal strength of the other side, all the characters on thelosing side are killed (regardless of how many wounds

or how much vitality each has). This is also called being overwhelmed . When a character is overwhelmed, thatcharacter does not take any more wounds - he simply dies.

When the Ring-bearer is overwhelmed, he or she is killed,regardless of whether he or she wears the Ring. The OneRing’s ability to convert wounds into burdens does not protecthim from being overwhelmed, since no wounds are placed.

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the twilight pool (for the Shadow number of the new site,the region of that site, and the number of companions inthe fellowship), and return to the Shadow phase(s).

• Or, reconcile your hand (just as the Shadow players didabove). Then the Shadow players discard all minions inplay (and cards borne by them), and your turn ends.

Move limit

During each of your turns, your fellowship must move at leastonce, but may move a number of times up to your move limit.

In a two- or three-player game, your move limit is two. Ina game with four or more players, your move limit is equalto the number of your opponents when the game begins.During your regroup phase, you may decide to makeanother move, subject to the limit above.

W INNING THE G AME A player wins the game when his fellowship is at site 9 andhis Ring-bearer survives all skirmish phases. The game ends,and there is no regroup phase on the last turn.

Alternately, a player may win the game when he becomesthe last player left in the game (see below).

Losing the Game A player loses the game if his Ring-bearer is killed. A playeralso loses the game if his Ring-bearer becomes corrupted by having burdens reduce his resistance to zero. There are alsocards that can corrupt the Ring-bearer, regardless of how many burdens he might have.If a player loses a game and there are at least two other playersremaining, remove his player marker and all of his cards fromplay (and discard any opponent’s cards that were on them).


Peoples player may once more assign a companion to defend against the Uruk-hai. This companion may be Aragorn or may be a different companion.Only when all skirmishes (both normal and fierce) havebeen resolved do the players move on to the regroup phase.

7. R EGROUP PHASEDuring the regroup phase, players may perform regroupactions (special abilities on cards in play with “Regroup:”and events with that keyword) and then each Shadow playerreconciles his hand. Then, the Free Peoples player decideswhether to end his turn now or move again this turn.

Perform regroup actionsPlayers may perform regroup actions using the actionprocedure described in the maneuver phase. When allplayers consecutively pass, proceed to reconcile the Shadow

players’ hands.Shadow players reconcileEach Shadow player must reconcile his hand to eight cards,as follows:• He may first discard one card from his hand.• If he then has less than eight cards in his hand, he must

draw cards until he has eight.• Otherwise (when he has more than eight cards in his hand),

he must discard from his hand until he has only eight.Free Peoples player chooses

At the end of the regroup phase, if you are the Free Peoplesplayer, you must select one of the following two choices:• Move the fellowship to the next site (allowing the proper

Shadow player to place a new site if needed), add tokens to

URemo e his sites on the ad enture path in numerical order



UNIQUENESS

Unique cardsMany character, possession, and artifact cards represent a thing that there is only one of. Such a card has a dot (•)before the card title, to tell you that only one of that cardmay be active and in play at a time.

You may have only one card with the card title of •Gandalf in play at one time. Other players may also have a card with the title of •Gandalf in play, but only one is allowed per player.Two cards represent the same thing if they have the samecard title (even if their subtitles or collector’s info aredifferent) or they have the same collector’s info (even if theirtitles and subtitles are different).For Shadow cards, if a copy of a unique card is already inplay and active, you cannot play another card that has the

same title (regardless of subtitles). You cannot play a card from your hand to replace anothercard in play, even if those cards have the same card title orrepresent the same personality.

Non-unique cards All cards that do not have a dot (•) before their card title arenon-unique. This means that all players may have many copies of those cards in play at one time.

R ESPONSES A special ability or event labeled with the word “Response:”indicates that you may perform that action whenever thetrigger described in its game text happens.

A response action is not a phase action (because there is no“response phase”).B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 35 T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

Remove his sites on the adventure path in numerical order,and replace each with an opponent’s corresponding site, incounter-clockwise order starting with the player on his right.The other players complete the losing player’s turn.

OTHER IMPORTANT R ULES

A CTIVE C ARDS

During your turn, only these cards are active:• sites on the adventure path,• your Free Peoples cards,• your copy of The One Ring, and• your opponents’ Shadow cards.

All other cards are inactive. Inactive cards are not affected by the game and do not affect the game.Your companions and your opponent’s minions are active. Your

opponents’ companions are not.Exception: Any cards borne by inactive cards are inactive.

An opponent’s Shadow condition on another opponent’s companion is not active because that companion is not.

You cannot play another copy of a unique card that isalready in play and currently active.Sites are always active. A site’s game text cannot be usedunless the fellowship is there, although some cards may copy

and use that game text.If the game text of a site has a Shadow special ability, you may use that special ability only when the active fellowship is at that site and you are a Shadow player.

Exception: Site text is not active when the starting fellowships are played.

Ho does the Rin bearer take the Rin off?T O R



How does the Ring-bearer take the Ring off? At the start of the regroup phase, your Ring-bearer takes off the Ring and simply carries it again.

K EYWORDSEach card has one or more keywords that identify it. Mostkeywords are unloaded keywords, with no special rules

(although they may be referenced by other cards). Keywords with rules are called loaded keywords. Find the explanationfor each loaded keyword with the index.

Unloaded keywordsRace (such as Man, Elf, Ent, Orc, Uruk-hai, or Wizard) isan unloaded keyword.The race of “Man” includes women of the appropriateculture. A possession that requires a ≥ Man bearer may be

borne by a ≥ female character who has the race of “Man.”Note that in The Lord of the Rings TCG, Uruk-hai is a different race from Orc.

Sites have unloaded keywords like battleground, dwelling,forest, marsh, mountain, plains, river, and underground.Other unloaded keywords include knight, ranger, spell,stealth, and tale. (These are the most common unloadedkeywords, though you will find others on some cards.)

Ring-bound & unbound. Only companions can beunbound or Ring-bound (not minions). Any companionwithout the Ring-bound keyword is an unbound companion.Loaded keywordsCard type (such as minion or event) and class (such asstaff or hand weapon) are loaded keywords. Other loadedkeywords include ambush, archer, damage +1, defender +1,B LACK R IDER Starter Rulebook 37 T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

THE ONE R INGFrodo begins the game as your Ring-bearer. He bears TheOne Ring for you, much as when he carried the Ring in hispocket or on a chain around his neck.

When can he put on the Ring?The Ruling Ring, the version of The One Ring in your

starter deck, has a “Response:” special ability. It can be usedduring any skirmish phase, even one that doesn’t involveyour Ring-bearer. Before you place a wound token on yourRing-bearer, you may tell your opponent that your Ring-bearer is putting on The Ruling Ring instead.

When you use the special ability on The One Ring, yourRing-bearer “wears” the Ring. Using this special ability onThe One Ring is optional.Remember, wounds are always placed on a character one ata time. Once activated, this special ability continues to be ineffect as long as your Ring-bearer wears The Ruling Ring.

Your Ring-bearer cannot put on the Ring to save himself from being overwhelmed. When he is overwhelmed, no

wounds are taken and he is killed.

What happens while the Ring-bearer wears the Ring? While your Ring-bearer wears The Ruling Ring, each timehe is about to take a wound, a burden is added instead.

While wearing the Ring, your Ring-bearer can perform allnormal actions such as moving and skirmishing. He may defend against attacking minions as usual.There are special Shadow cards with powerful effects thatcan only be played while your Ring-bearer wears the Ring.

Replacing sitesfierce lurker muster Ring-bearer and toil (Other loaded



Replacing sitesSome cards allow a player to play the next site on theadventure path at times when the fellowship is not moving.These may be used even when the next site is already there.In such cases, the new site replaces the old one. The old oneis returned to its owner’s adventure deck. The new site takesthe same site number the old site had, so that there is always

only one site 1 in play, one site 2, and so on.LurkerThe Free Peoples player must resolve all skirmishesinvolving minions who do not have the lurker keywordbefore he may choose to resolve any skirmishes involving one or more minions who do have it.

Muster At the start of the regroup phase, for each of your characters

who has the muster keyword, you may discard a card fromhand, then draw a card. You must discard all at once. Forexample, if you have two muster characters, you cannotchoose to discard a card, draw a card, then discard anothercard and draw a card. You must instead choose to discard 0,1, or 2 cards, then draw that same number of cards.

Toil When you play a card that has the toil keyword, you may

reduce its twilight cost by the number specified. You dothis by exerting one of your characters of the same cultureas that card. You may exert multiple characters of the sameculture. Each different character you exert reduces thetwilight cost by the number specified. You may exert a givencharacter only once when playing a toil card.


fierce, lurker, muster, Ring-bearer, and toil. (Other loadedkeywords are explained in the Comprehensive Rulebook.)

MISCELLANEOUS

Playing cards from your draw deck Some cards allow you to play a card directly from your draw deck or discard pile. You must still pay any costs and meet

requirements necessary for playing that card. When you finish looking through your draw deck, reshuffleit and give the player to your right the opportunity to cut it.

SpotThe word spot sets up a requirement for playing a card orusing a special ability in conjunction with a noun such as,“To play, spot an Elf.” This is equivalent to, “An Elf mustbe in play and active for you to play this card.”

Cards in your dead pile are active during your turn, but they’re not in play. You can’t spot a card in your dead pile.Normally, you don’t have to spot all the cards in play thatmeet the requirement if you don’t want to.If a card says, “for each Elf you spot” and there are 2 Elves in play (and active), you may choose to spot 2 Elves, 1 Elf, or none.However, if a card says, “you can spot,” that means you

don’t have a choice and you have to spot anything andeverything that meets the requirement.“While you can spot The Balrog, skip the archery phase” means

you can’t make a choice (it either works or it doesn’t).

C D i f ll hi 22 24



T HE LORD OF THE R INGS Trading Card Game

CONTACTING DECIPHER • websites: decipher.com & lotr.fanhq.com• customer service email:

[email protected]• telephone: 757-623-3600• address: P.O. Box 56, Norfolk, VA, USA 23501-0056

INDEX action procedure. . . . . . . . . . .26active cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34adventure deck . . . . . . . . . . 4, 16ambush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28archery phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27artifact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

assignment phase . . . . . . . . . . 27attribute bonuses . . . . . . . . . . 19burden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22companion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 19comprehensive rulebook . . . . . . 2condition . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 22, 25corrupted . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 33culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8damage +1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30dead pile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10defender +1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28discard to heal . . . . . . . . . . . . 19draw deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 14exert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11exhausted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11fellowship phase . . . . . . . . . . . 18fierce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Free Peoples cards . . . . . . . . . . 4healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37killed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10kinds of cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4losing the game . . . . . . . . . . .33lurker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39maneuver phase . . . . . . . . . . . 26minion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 25move limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

moving your fellowship . . 22, 24muster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39non-unique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35overwhelmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30phase action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13possession . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 19, 25race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37reconcile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

region number . . . . . . . . . . . . 23regroup phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32reset the twilight pool . . . . . . . 18resistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36roaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25sanctuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10setting up the game . . . . . . . . 16Shadow cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Shadow number . . . . . . . . . 8, 23Shadow phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24site . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 8, 22, 23, 39site number . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 23skirmish phase . . . . . . . . . . . . 29special ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38start of turn actions . . . . . . . . 18starting fellowship . . . . . . . . . 16support area . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 25The One Ring . . . . . . . . . . 5, 36toil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 12turn sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18twilight pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12uniqueness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35vitality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

when, each time, and while . . 15 who goes first . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 winning the game . . . . . . . . . . 33 wounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

lotr tcg - 12 - black rider rulebook

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